Lakeland Videographer: How to Protect Your Photos and Videos Online

by | Nov 28, 2019

Publishing photos and videos online means you are risking for these to be taken by someone else. Other people can use these photos and videos without your permission. If this is going to be a problem for you as a Lakeland videographer, you should know by now that it’s perfectly okay to protect your output. Yes, there is such a thing as copyright infringement. You have legal rights not to let anyone use your photos and videos without permission.

But although it is not possible to copyright all the materials you post online, you should still do your best to not let people use your photos and videos. It is easier to prevent something from happening rather than react to it once it’s already there. There are effective ways to protect your images online. These are some of the best ways to prevent image theft:

Add Watermarks to the Photos and Videos

Of course, it does not mean the watermark should appear right on top of the image. A little watermark at the edge of the photo or video can do the trick. If someone decides to crop the watermark, you can sue that person and proof the intent to use the photo or video without permission. You can use your logo to stamp on the corner of the photo. It prevents people from using it for fear of copyright infringement.

Use Digital Barcoding

You probably have heard this before. Digital barcoding adds a small amount of digital noise to your photo. When someone uses it without your permission, a service can usually find where it is being used because of the “fingerprints” that the digital barcode will leave on the website. Most of the advanced barcoding services are paid. They aren’t exactly cheap, too. You can do this manually through a reverse image search on Google.

Never Share a High-resolution File

A high-resolution file is the same one you’re going to use on your website or your print out. How can you prove that someone stole your image if you’re basically holding the same file? When someone gets ahold of a high-res photo, they can do whatever they want to do with it. They can compress it and use it on the internet. They can print it out as large as billboards and posters.

Put the Copyright on the Metadata

Images have metadata once you decide to dig into it using a photo editing tool. You’ll find it in the same place you’ll find the file name, folder, metadata status, title, caption, and creator. Usually, no one else finds the copyright unless they dig into the image file. In some cases, this can be erased because sites like Facebook compresses the file. This data is lost during image compression.

No matter what avenue you choose to use, make sure there is some semblance of protection for your files. As a Lakeland videographer, this is the only way you can be assured that your files are going to be protected.